


Silver-Winged Hope

by Shadaras



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28153326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: After Saw Gerrera abandons Jyn, she goes to Alderaan.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12
Collections: Writing Rainbow Silver





	Silver-Winged Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [primeideal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/gifts).



Aldera City is beautiful, and Alderaan itself seems untouched by the tragedy that has consumed Jyn’s life for the last eight years.

She hates it on sight.

Jyn’s only here because of an off-hand reference Saw made, years ago, about how “Organa can’t get anything done that way and I don’t know why he tries.” She’d figured out who _Organa_ was after less than a day of snooping, and that he headed a much more idealistic cell of people trying to restore the Republic.

She knows about other cells. The Cloud-Riders haunt the Outer Rim. There’s a crew causing trouble on Lothal. They’re little stars of chaos harrying the Empire.

Alderaan just happened to be the nearest cell to where Jyn was left behind.

 _Plus_ , she thinks sourly as she shows a fake identity card to the bored guards checking for passengers on Wanted lists, _anyone as idealistic as Organa sounds like won’t turn me away_.

Jyn hadn’t thought further than _Get to Aldera City_ when she’d made this plan. She knows the shared signs that different Rebel cells use to mark territory. Mostly they’re used to say “Hey, don’t set up shop here,” but sometimes it’s more about “Here’s safe harbour if you need it.” Today, she’s keeping her eyes out for the latter.

It’s not exactly hard to find, because she knows what she’s looking for and she’s an unknown here. Jyn’s found safehouses while on the run from Imperial forces, where sharp eyes are the difference between life or death. Right now, she can wander and enjoy the sunshine and the utter normalcy of Alderaan’s capital. Jyn’s eating an apple when she finally spots the curved scrapes that mean _safety_.

Jyn turns into the tea-house (which is so posh a hiding place she can’t believe it) and glances at the menu. She hadn’t even realised how tense she was until she sees the little constellation decorating it. The Republic’s Wings aren’t a true constellation, because Coruscant’s atmosphere has been too filled with haze and artificial lights for most people to see its true night sky in the last century at least, but when the now-fallen Republic had done light shows it had been treated as one.

Now it’s the Rebel Alliance’s symbol of safety. Seven stars aligned to look like outspread feathers around a central body.

Jyn walks up to the counter and asks, “Do you have silver-veined tayong leaves?” Getting the code-words standardized had been hell, she’d heard, but since Organa had been one of the prime offenders of _making_ them Jyn’s pretty sure they’ll work.

The bored young woman standing there blinks, then straightens and says, “No, but I can place an order if you’re planning on staying in the area.”

“No rush,” Jyn says, leaning forward and smiling. It’s almost like flirting, except for organizations instead of people. “Besides, I can’t drink that much tea on my own.”

“I’ll ask my boss.” She nods to a small table, currently empty, in a shadowed corner. “Do you need anything while you wait?”

Jyn wiggles the apple in her hand. “I’m all set.”

The alliance member nods, and Jyn takes herself off to the table. She relaxes against the wall, keeping her eyes open but not spending too much energy on actively attending to her surroundings. She’s safe here, for the moment.

It’s almost half an hour later when an impeccably dressed woman sits down in front of Jyn. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” she asks, and Jyn starts trying to work out her accent. It's Core, but more liquid than Coruscanti standard. “We can settle that first, then work on anything else you need.”

Jyn shakes her head. She doesn't have anything to fidget with anymore—the apple's long eaten, core and all—and even if she did she wouldn't want to reveal her tells to this sharp-eyed lady. “I lost my group,” she says, which is true. “Saw the sign and knew I could get help.”

Her eyes soften. “My name is Sabé,” she says, extending a hand. “I'll take you to a temporary dorm and we can see about connecting you with the resources you need.”

Jyn takes her hand. For all that Sabé looks like a rich court lady, her hand is muscled and calloused like a warrior. “Jyn,” she says, because that's on her ID right now anyway. Only half the words they say really matter, but if she looks like a runaway with a caseworker settling whatever happened to her, that's better for everyone. “I'll go with you.”

Sabé nods and rises. When Jyn stands too, she's surprised to see that she's taller than Sabé by a bare few centimeters. Jyn herself is pretty short by human standards, but Sabé is _tiny_. She just has a powerful enough presence that Jyn hadn’t noticed until she’s looking down a little into eyes that say _If you think I’m weak because I am small, I will murder you_. Jyn knows better than to think size matters. She herself is proof enough of that.

They keep up their cover as Sabé leads the way deeper into the city, chatting about insignificant things that serve only to make sure people read Jyn as Sabé’s daughter or ward. It’s not hard to keep up the facade of a recalcitrant teenager; Aldera City still rankles at her with its clean white stone walls and high-arching trees and smiling faces. Sabé doesn’t miss the truth behind Jyn’s grumbled responses, Jyn’s sure, but neither does she press.

It’s most of an hour’s walk, twisting and turning to disguise their trail (and allow Sabé to buy street food and shove it into Jyn’s hands with a “I know you’re not eating enough” that Jyn couldn’t even argue with), before they reach the safehouse. Jyn knows it for what it is in an instant, even though it looks like a perfectly ordinary family home. The way the trees are trimmed, the careful use of curtains over the windows—no peaceful family would be quite so paranoid.

Sabé unlocks the door and waves Jyn inside. “You aren’t one of ours,” she says, as soon as the door clicks closed. “I know all our agents. Whose are you?”

“Saw Gerrera,” Jyn spits. She’s angry again, but she doesn’t punch anything, just clenches her fists until her nails bite into her palms. “Left me to die for no fucking reason at all.”

“You aren’t hurt,” Sabé observes, utterly calm. She circles around and studies Jyn more closely. “I’m sure you swept yourself for bugs before coming to us.”

“Nothing,” Jyn confirms, and stalks deeper into the house. There’s a lounge, currently empty, and she throws herself onto a couch that’s stained and worn and the first thing that looks _normal_ in this city.

“You still want to be involved in the Alliance.”

“Yeah.” Jyn scrubs at her eyes. They’re stinging. She doesn’t like that. “What else is there?”

Sabé’s quiet for a little bit, and Jyn hears the creak of her sitting down in a chair. “You could go to school or take up a profession.”

“With all the blood on my hands?” Jyn raises them, even though right now the only thing on them is the faint greasy residue of the food Sabé had bought her. “How do you respond to people asking about your hobbies and not being able to think of anything other than _Building bombs_ or _Practicing at the shooting range_?”

Sabé laughs outright, and Jyn can’t believe it for a moment. “Where did Saw find you?” she asks, and that’s definitely delight in her voice. “Saw’s people are usually… rougher around the edges.”

“Lah’mu,” Jyn mutters, curling back in on herself.

“If you’re staying, I think I have a place for you.” Sabé doesn’t follow up on the question, and Jyn’s grateful for that. “You’ve got a Coruscanti accent.”

“My parents,” Jyn says, and leaves _They’re dead now_ unspoken. No parents would leave their kid to wander in any Rebel cell unsupervised. “Why does it matter?”

“The Organas have a daughter who I suspect is about your age. She wants to get more involved, and the Organas refuse to let her.” Sabé sounds smug, and Jyn sits up. She catches the satisfied smile on Sabé’s face and her eyes narrow further. “If she has a companion who knows how things work, she’ll either be more careful or at the very least _safer_ when she runs off anyway.”

Jyn scowls, crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m sixteen. I’m not a babysitter.”

“She’s fourteen and would kill anyone who said they were her babysitter.” Sabé’s smile has a knife’s edge. “I should know, I taught her how to use a blaster when she was seven.”

 _That_ catches Jyn’s interest, and she bites her lip. “Would I need to pretend to be an aristocrat?” She’s had to do that once for a job, and she hated it.

“Not necessarily.” Sabé shrugs at Jyn’s ill-concealed surprise. “The Organas have a long history of taking in strays, and everyone is _quite_ aware that Leia is a rogue. If she shows up with a companion from a different class, everyone will accept it so long as you have decent manners and don’t _try_ to cause trouble.”

A smile’s tugging unbidden at Jyn’s lips. “Okay,” she says, because she’s so tired of having to run and this kid sounds like she knows how to have a good time. “I’ll meet her.”

“Excellent.” Sabé stands again. “Stay here overnight—nobody else is using it right now, but the kitchen should still be stocked. I’ll make the arrangements and come for you in the morning.”

Jyn’s nodding before she realises it. Sabé’s a good commander, to have that effect from so few words. “Alright,” she says, because even if this doesn’t work out she’ll get a good night’s sleep and a few solid meals.

Sabé leaves, and Jyn’s left alone in the empty house. She stares at its walls for a while, then shrugs and wanders around until she finds the kitchen and a room she thinks is safe enough to sleep in. That’s enough for now.

Tomorrow, she might dare start hoping for more.


End file.
